8PM 9/25/2012
Hi Gary,
I'm at Bud's. Where are you and what have you seen?
Karen, my sister in Michigan said she hasn't heard from you yet. She's off work until November so you should really try to stop in. They will welcome you. Do you still have her phone and address? Let me know if you need it again.
Bud says when you come back you can stay with us if you want to. We can come and go whenever we want to for our travel pursuits. He says he might want to drive up to Alaska with his trailer in June. I had told him I was considering the ferry. Like driving up to Bellingham ... I want to see Mt. Baker and the Northern Cascade National Park on the way up.
...
Let me know what's going on!
Sandy
7PM 9/27/2012
Hi Sandy,
I'm back in Choteau after a nice 5-day backpack to the northern half of the "Chinese Wall" in the Bob Marshal wilderness just west of here. Since the weather still keeps being "sunny" (though smoky as well most of the time) I may do another several day backpack to the southern portion of the wall starting from Augusta - the Benchmark trailhead, to be exact. The southern portion seems to be the more popular destination. I may just go as far as a prominent peak that has a good view of the wall - depending on time and weather.
I decided I have to bite the bullet and get new tires. one of them is bald and the other three nearly so. I got a quote from a shop in the Great falls area but decided to go with a local shop here in Choteau - he sells a tread design popular in this area with all the gravel roads - seems appropriate for me... ...and the price is slightly cheaper than the other quote. I'm getting that done tomorrow afternoon. Only wrinkle is I can't get an alignment done unless I wait a week - so - I may decide to do that later at some point - which works out with my budget constraints because that's an extra cost...
So, I'll have limited funds for October for gas & food and my "lodging costs" will have to continue to be near-zero - not a problem so far as long as I stay away from towns. Tonight, alas, is an exception - $15 for a campground right here in town, convenient since this library is open til 8 and the "tent-city" at the CG has power!!! (Sort of a hexagonal shed arrangement with a "counter-top" etc near the center and 6 "partitions" delineating the different camp-sites. Also, I'll be doing laundry there (coin-operated - I've gotten to rinsing out socks & such during my backpacks, but still find the machine and drier hard to wean myself from - along with occasional hot showers...
Anyway, approximately: $600 gone for tires. 1700 miles from here to Karen at $4/gallon and 22mpg on my subaru, or about $300 to drive straight here to Karen's - google maps says it would take 30hrs. I had about $200 left over from last month so I have a "discretionary" $400 to spend in October. Ordinarily about $300 of that would be food, but I still have a lot of uneaten food I've been carrying around. so lets say $200 for more food leaving $200 worth of extra driving I could do. That could get me back for a 2nd look at Yellowstone in autumn. hmm... Or, Michigan to Connecticut by end of October - that was my original commitment.
I don't believe it! several times now you've told me Karen's name, address, email, phone, etc but I STILL don't have her in my contact list, and apparently all of those times were verbally over the phone written down on random scraps of paper, because searching my emails I find NO mention in any of our email conversations of her contact info. SORRY - all those times I've "intended" to add it to my contacts as soon as I get back to the computer, but alas, I haven't. (Actually, I do have her phone#) Would you please be so kind and tell me again - IN WRITING BY EMAIL all in one place - maybe even with an email subject like "Karen ____'s contact info", her full name, mailing address, phone, email. Thanks. <end melodrama>
Bud's offer and travel plans sure sound attractive at this time. Hopefully things won't have soured too much between you and him between now and then! Be sure to be good to him!
What's Peter up to these days? Do you two have any travel plans upcoming?
7PM 9/26/2012
Hi Gary,
Glad to hear from you! Be sure and get out of the mountain area before it snows and blows.
Suprised you are still in Glacier area -- ya, it was my favorite of the parks too.
Bud and I get along great; he's positive and mellow.
I don't have any plans to travel with Peter. He's in Venezuela with a friend.
Karen & Michael info ... Manchester, MI
Take I-94 (I-80 turns into I-94 in Chicago) to Chelsea/Manchester exit. Go south until you get to a red light (about 10 miles), turn left that will be Pleasant Lake Rd.
When you get to Schnieder Rd. turn right (it's the only way you can turn) follow until you get to a stop sign with a stone church and graveyard. Just past that about half a mile, look for Bemis Rd. on your right. Follow along the dirt road through the woods and when you come to the top of the hill, turn left down the dirt driveway. If you pass a big beautiful white farm house on the right, you went to far -- that's Bob's house! Stop in and say "hi" to him and or Linda.
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
Thanks. Finally added it to my contacts (also can search for it in my emails.)
Does Karen have an email address?
Now I'm off to get new tires. will be back in the library later this afternoon before heading south to Augusta and find a camping spot on the way to tomorrow's trailhead - hope to be backpacking again for a few more days.
Gary
I think Karen's email is ... but she responds better to phone since she isn't at work now.
Where is Augusta?
Sandy
3PM 9/30/2012
Hi Sandy & Karen?
Thanks for Karen's email address. Unfortunately at the moment I've still had virtually no phone service using my providers (AT&T or TMobile) so I haven't had a reason to activate either of these pay-as-you-go plans. But that may change in about a week when I expect to be spending nearly full-time on the interstate heading to Michigan as fast as I can (Or so is my current intention, subject to getting way-laid by any compelling distraction along the way.)
First, though, I'm heading for a 2nd pass through Yellowstone, timed to coincide with the upcoming winter storm due to hit the Rockies this Tues-Fri (Oct 2-5.) My plan is to enter at West Yellowstone and exit on one of the two east-bound roads. Hope to have a look at some of the geysers with extra-large clouds of steam due to the cold weather, and if I'm lucky, snow on the ground or at least with snow-covered hills as backdrop. Hopefully it won't be too much snow to keep the roads closed for the season. (I'll be researching the past history on winter closures etc while I'm here at the Library in Helena, MT.)
Then I plan to head straight east to Michigan. I expect that'll take me at least 4 days (I guess I'm allowing for some detours to take a peek at on-the-way POI's and/or to find a "free" spot to overnight in some Nat. Forest or such.
Sandy, assuming Karen won't see this email for a while (or at all if the address isn't right) would you please call her for me and tell her the gist of my plans to indeed come her way within the next two weeks, (and let me know whether this would or not inconvenience her at this time. Thanks!
I think it would be nice to visit for maybe three days or so - see some things in the area, but I then want to also move on asap to my sister's in Connecticut (with only one specifically scheduled stop in Cleveland) though if I have time I would like to maybe veer north hugging the great lakes and northern NY into VT before turning south thru Mass into CT.
I'd be curious what the state of the autumn leaves are at this time - it's already past-prime as far as rthe aspens here in the Rockies, but that may precede the peak for eastern forests....
Karen, if you are reading this before I've managed to contact you more directly by phone, It's nice to have the opportunity to talk to you, and I'm looking forward to meeting you soon.
Thanks both,
Gary
6PM 10/1/2012
Hi Gar,
I left a message for Karen on her cell phone that you should be there in a few weeks.
...
Please be careful with the snow and road closures!! I know that Wyoming closes I-80 when snow hits and if you don't have chains you get a big fine if they catch you. The wind blows like a bastard through MT, WY and the Dakotas. I don't know about Nebraska or Iowa.
I'm gonna hike to see the tule elk with Darlene, Kathrin and other women tomorrow.
I booked a one month trip to Guatemala to study spanish and see the mayan ruins and such. I return on Thanksgiving day.
Sandy
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